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Topic: Penultimate legs (Read 4729 times)

i love Penultimate legs, who doesn't, being the last country to be visited before going home, determining who's in the final 3 and i think, this should be the most exciting and intense leg of the entire season considering most finale legs are disappointing let's talk about which penultimate legs are very tough and memorable.

favorite penultimate leg is leg 11 of season 6, Xi'an China, amazing roadblock, Taxi Drama, Breakdowns and Language Barriers, it was also a long leg too, aside of that, i also love the penultimates of season 12,13,14,15, and 23. here are my thoughts about several penultimate legs

TAR6: WONDERFUL and LONG and STRESSFUL and DRAMATIC CHINA LEGTAR7: it was an NEL. but still nobody wants to have zero money during the final leg. and i thinkg the tasks are very good. the team that came in last are put in a serious disadvantageTAR9: actually i really love this JAPAN leg, the detour in the night time, and fujikyu highland roadblock. and having to ride a swan in lake yamanaka was clever TAR10: i don't like this, it really made the first half of the leg completely useless. it was just based on the detour. Dustin and Kandice was leading and their lead stopped because everyone will be on the same flight to BarcelonaTAR11: this is not a very bad leg however i think this was the worst leg of TAR 11. TAR 11 really set the bar high TAR 12: OMG the tasks are just so simple, but i don't know how this leg could be much more dramatic than most harder legs. Nate and Jen Breakdown was just stellar. TK and Rachel overtaking two teams after completing speedbump was incredible. and this leg finished at NIGHT TAR 13: one of the most complicated roadblock and detours i've ever seen. what a shame Dallas lost his passport and NOT BEING CALLED BACK FOR BOTH TAR UB AND TAR 24TAR 14: why are Chinese penultimate legs are very good. i seriously wanted to have it in season 25. no one expects that the pitstop was just a midpoint, They raced from 9 in the evening until 10 in the morning, Jamie and cara even finished racing at 2 in the afternoon. and also the peeing-before-pitstop moment was just a starTAR 15: good leg, one of the best. scary scenery though. TAR 16: i love it. first, because it's in China, seconde The foot race are very dramatic. Third, the ending was at night. i love seeing Shanghai in nighttime TAR 17: a not very outstanding leg from a very good season, because Vicky and Nick were too far behind. what a shame TAR 18 : don't really like it, i don't know why TAR 19 : kinda OK leg. don't expect that Andy and Tommy missed itTAR 20 : i don't understand how most people here like this leg. it's just catching a chicken and eat sushi and taking a photo. like seriously, very disappointing. the finale was betterTAR 21 : the only thing that i like was Natalie and Nadiya taking a wrong way to the pitstop. The challenges was just MEHTAR 22 : i actually liked this more than 21. the detour was kinda tricky. and seeing Jennifer panicking in the mud fieldTAR 23 : much better than season 20, just a little bit disappointment at the detour. the fishbowl was very easy. i wished the message was longer. but the roadblock really scrambled the placement of the teams.

favorite penultimate countries are: Japan, China, and czech Republic

I would like to see a penultimate in Philippines, Switzerland, Indonesia, a country in Africa, Argentina, and Iceland

(anything pre-TAR9 I just couldn't list here since I haven't rewatched them )TAR 9 in Tokyo/Lake Yamanaka - NEL before the final leg is not fun sryTAR 10 in Barcelona - I wished they had a full leg in Spain It would have been a great ep (but beauty queens )TAR 11 in Guam - OMG THE TELETUBBIES GO TO WARTAR 12 in Taipei - it was intense but ugh Nate/Jen TAR 13 in Moscow - awesome (especially that ultra-complicated Ride the Rails or Ride the Lines detour and the wow-how-did-they-plan-that Stalin-Lenin Roadblock. Too bad Toni/Dallas got unlucky)TAR 14 in Beijing - awesome (especially that U-Turn and the Wenchang Ge drama)TAR 15 in Prague - this is the exception. I liked the Vegas leg over this. But lol Globetrotters pwned.TAR 16 in Shanghai - It was... okaaaaay. TAR 17 in Seoul - The tasks were great but Nick/Vicki are so behind, its not thrilling. I liked the LA leg over this.TAR 18 in Rio de Janeiro - awesomeTAR 19 in Panama City - awesome RESULTS (but the leg was nooormal)TAR 20 in Osaka - mehTAR 21 in Loire Valley - also meh but well I'm just biased against post TAR 18 seasons TAR 22 in Belfast - awesomeTAR 23 in Tokyo - awesome tasks (sans the goldfish)

For comparison's sake, I think we should be counting the final elimination leg in the early seasons, because the Final 3 NEL was always sort of boring (except for Basket Boats or Basket Bikes).

The legs from Season 1, 3, and 5 are incredible and I think some of the most tense and exciting legs of all time. The race between Kevin & Drew and the Guidos, Ken & Gerard and Derek & Drew not finding the clue, and who could forget the Philippines where all the teams were nervously looking to see if Colin & Christie were catching up to them.

Like!TAR 14 - Very exciting, lots of drama and the toilet problem cost Jen & Kisha 1 million bucks.TAR 16 - The task was ok, but the footrace between first two and bottom two was so DAMN exciting!TAR 18 - Wonderful location, great RB and time-consuming detour made it really intense.TAR 23 - OMG! The RB was ABSOLUTELY perfect! Create a lot of drama, frustrating and Marie's killing it! Also, the gameshow detour and speed bum was really funny.

Meh...TAR 10 - The morocco part was horrible. But the Barcelona part is fun. Love the tomato detour!TAR 12 - This leg contain lots of drama and really exciting to watch. But the task was so lame and pretty easy. NateJen going home is heart-breaking too. TAR 13 - Amazing task ever in the whole race with tricky puzzle and crazy navigation detour. But since Toni & Dallas was so far behind. The intense dropped.TAR 15,17 - Same with TAR 13, the task was great but one team was so far behind.TAR 19 - Lame task. But the last five minutes saved it with the Taxi alliance BEST RESULT EVER !!

Horrid TAR 11 - Lame task. Linear leg. Only Charla problem with that GPS make it worth watching. TAR 20 - The task seemed so rush and boring that even the pit stop drama couldn't save it.TAR 21 - Lame, so lame. The detour was and the RB was so pointless.TAR 22 - Very boring, the task was great especially the Titanic recipe. But F4 team was so horrible that I can't even cheer any of them to make for the Finale.

Without typing up a lengthy list, I would simply say that TAR 12's penultimate leg was the best of them all. At the time I first watched it it was so exciting to see Nathan & Jennifer get eliminated! Nowadays I like them more, so it kind of makes me sad that they were eliminated. Nevertheless, it was very entertaining and suspenseful.

Logged

"The authority of example and considerations of character, unlike pudding, are not whipped up in an instant." - Neal A. Maxwell

The two absolute best penultimate legs in my opinion are TAR 5 and TAR 6.

TAR 5 had a simply amazing leg with everyone afraid that Colin & Christie would catch up to them. The showdown at the Roadblock was amazing and it was so heartbreaking seeing Linda & Karen be eliminated on the edge of making Amazing Race history.

TAR 6 was also amazing, A pretty good detour, Some great locations in the Terra Cotta Warriors Museum and Mount Hua which was the simply amazing roadblock and was one of those tasks that truly deserves a switchback ending the leg with a really strong team in Hayden & Aaron being eliminated.

My favorite is TAR19! It was so suspenseful and Andy & Tommy were eliminated and all the Taxis working together was really great! Plus the final task with the dresses and Panama Viejo was great! <3 I loved it!

Wadsy591

No competition as to which season had the best penultimate leg... The winner goes to:

TAR 6

In fact its my favourite leg of all time. The final four have to embrace the cultural barriers in X'ian, China. For being a leg in China, it was absolutely stunning. The Detour was pretty good, but the real highlights for me were the visit to Terra Cotta Warriors Museum, definitely one of the best tourist attractions ever seen on TAR. Then of course was the best Roadblock involving keys and unlocking many to get the right padlock. Poor Hayden & Aaron, but the end marriage proposal was excellent.

Like!TAR 14 - Very exciting, lots of drama and the toilet problem cost Jen & Kisha 1 million bucks.TAR 16 - The task was ok, but the footrace between first two and bottom two was so DAMN exciting!TAR 18 - Wonderful location, great RB and time-consuming detour made it really intense.TAR 23 - OMG! The RB was ABSOLUTELY perfect! Create a lot of drama, frustrating and Marie's killing it! Also, the gameshow detour and speed bum was really funny.

Meh...TAR 10 - The morocco part was horrible. But the Barcelona part is fun. Love the tomato detour!TAR 12 - This leg contain lots of drama and really exciting to watch. But the task was so lame and pretty easy. NateJen going home is heart-breaking too. TAR 13 - Amazing task ever in the whole race with tricky puzzle and crazy navigation detour. But since Toni & Dallas was so far behind. The intense dropped.TAR 15,17 - Same with TAR 13, the task was great but one team was so far behind.TAR 19 - Lame task. But the last five minutes saved it with the Taxi alliance BEST RESULT EVER !!

Horrid TAR 11 - Lame task. Linear leg. Only Charla problem with that GPS make it worth watching. TAR 20 - The task seemed so rush and boring that even the pit stop drama couldn't save it.TAR 21 - Lame, so lame. The detour was and the RB was so pointless.TAR 22 - Very boring, the task was great especially the Titanic recipe. But F4 team was so horrible that I can't even cheer any of them to make for the Finale.

I'll update mine too since I've seen some more seasons after posting this. Like!TAR25 - Veryyyyyyyy physical demanding. I always love when they make penultimate in Hot-Humid Asia because it causes a lot of meltdown and drama. This leg is perfect. And I'm still remember how shock I am when first watching this and they reveal the F4 twist!TAR26 - I'll call it one of the best penultimate in a while. Every tasks were so hard. Although if they add some HoH at the start, it'll be like even better.TAR6 - OMG, the Key RB is my everything. <33 Amazing task! I don't like luck task that determined who will go home but the more I think about it, I think the Key RB is not luck based. It's challenging you to stay calm and not freak out and then you'll finally get it. A lot of teams freak the hell out and start to have meltdown, which is fun to watch but painful for them at the same time. I really really like this task and hope it got switchback'd soon.

Meh...TAR24 - Well, I think it's OK. I like the recite Poetry task and the shooting task. But... WHINE & Cornor STEAL CaroJen's 1st place kind of ruin all the leg for me. The football task and throwing shoes is also LAME. It's one of the two legs in TAR that I cannot force myself to watch the entire episode. (Another one is an episode after this, that NIGHTMARE finale, which shouldn't be talking about)

Horrid!TAR5 - Sorry guys, I'm so NOT OK with this. Okay, so we're starting the leg and then we go to some bunching which give 2 teams a FREE PASS to FINAL 3. Wtf? Then we're force to watch 2 last teams to fight with each other which might be fun... but it's NOT when it's down to 40-something Nice Moms VS Alpha Physical Dating Couple with that NO LIMIT RB RULE! which lead to one of the worst elimination ever. The flag island searching is kind of... stupid. And then here we come, the ascending RB, which would be nice if it's in recent season with RB rule. But no one want to watch Moms nearly die while doing RB WHEN all other girls just watch their guy do some workout and drink some coke then row boat chilly to the Pit Stop! It's good that this leg give WRP an idea to do the limit RB rule. (Which BTW got screwed again by WHINE & Cornor in season 24) But I just don't like this leg. It's always painful for me to watch this penultimate.

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Wadsy591

I agree with you about the TAR5 penultimate leg being a disappointment.I did not enjoy El Nido or the challenges that took place in the leg. There were no equalizers either which was kind of upsetting. In fact, both the two legs in the Philippines lowered my overall score for TAR 5 as well as the lack of Europe making it my third favourite instead of my favourite season.

TAR12 (Taiwan) - Amazing! Great leg, tasks and drama.TAR14 (China) - Also a very good one. That water detour was awesome.TAR15 (Czech Republic) - Fine by me, but it would've been way better if the Globies haven't quitted that one.TAR16 (China) - Fine drama too. Tasks not so good.TAR17 (South Korea) - Good tasks but zero drama :/TAR18 (Brazil) - Unbalanced Detour which killed the leg.TAR19 (Panama) - Cool leg and nice drama all the way to an shocking end.TAR20 (Japan) - I don't like it...TAR21 (France) - Very good leg too. I'd say one of the best drama legs of all.TAR22 (Northern Ireland) - Not good.TAR24 (Wales) - I don't like the tasks too.TAR25 (Phillipines) - Loved it!TAR26 (Peru) - I'm fine with it but the NO bunching thing was a mood breaker.

Logged

Freedom is a lonely road.

Wadsy591

TAR12 (Taiwan) - Amazing! Great leg, tasks and drama.TAR14 (China) - Also a very good one. That water detour was awesome.TAR15 (Czech Republic) - Fine by me, but it would've been way better if the Globies haven't quitted that one.TAR16 (China) - Fine drama too. Tasks not so good.TAR17 (South Korea) - Good tasks but zero drama :/TAR18 (Brazil) - Unbalanced Detour which killed the leg.TAR19 (Panama) - Cool leg and nice drama all the way to an shocking end.TAR20 (Japan) - I don't like it...TAR21 (France) - Very good leg too. I'd say one of the best drama legs of all.TAR22 (Northern Ireland) - Not good.TAR24 (Wales) - I don't like the tasks too.TAR25 (Phillipines) - Loved it!TAR26 (Peru) - I'm fine with it but the NO bunching thing was a mood breaker.

I definitely agree with you about TAR 12, 17, 20 and 22. 22 was especially disappointing for me as the entire season as a whole was incredible, but the last two legs spoiled it completely. That's just my opinion though, however.

TAR 17 - Boring due to no suspense. Tasks had potential.TAR 18 - This wasn't really memorable. Felt bad for Zev & Justin but they were a threat imo TAR 19 - The taxi race added lots of chaos and gave us the best F3 celebration WE BEAT THE BOYS!!TAR 20 - I really wonder how this season would have turned out if Vanessa didn't fall in India. Boring/unfortunate.TAR 21 - This has one of the best races to the finish! Twins vs. Farmers driving was VERY well-done. [Re]watch it.TAR 22 - The last few legs of this season ruined what was a really good season imo. In other words, boring.TAR 23 - Watching Marie beat Amy and Nicole was one of the best moments! Really wish Leo & Jamal made it.TAR 24 - Caroline & Jennifer almost won this leg wasn't a great leg though.TAR 25 - So freakin' suspenseful and dramatic. I loved it. The 4-way taxi race was awesome.TAR 26 - The tasks were really good for a penultimate leg but there was no drama/suspense whatsoever.

I never noticed that I only seem to like the odd-numbered seasons' penultimate legs recently